The historic first event of the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific reached a final table late last night at Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. The first-ever AUD$1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Accumulator final table will be led by Bryan Piccioli, who went on an incredible rush to finish Day 2 with 790,000 in chips.
Piccioli will be joined at the final table by well-known poker pros Jeremy Ausmus (447,000), Jonathan Karamilikis (296,000) and 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel (537,000). Long-time pro Graeme "Kiwi G" Putt (216,000) has also made the final table, as well as Iori Yogo (138,000), who could easily become the next big breakout youngster in 2013.
To read about how the final table was reached and how the players stack up in contention for the AUD$211,000 top prize, check out the full recap here.
Frederick Kammerer got his short stack of around 45,000 all in preflop holding the and was racing against the of Paul Snead. Kammerer got it in good, but the flop gave Snead an open-ended straight draw to go with his overs. The turn paired one of Snead's overs, though it did give Kammerer a flush draw. Unfortunately for him, the would blank on the river and he would exit in 61st place for $3,051.
Meanwhile, Leonard Sande was eliminated in 60th place for the same amount.
Shortly after play resumed, Bobby Corcione knocked out a short-stacked David Coppersmith in 63rd, and Coppersmith becomes the first player to cash in the 2012-13 WSOP Circuit Main Event at Foxwoods.
A couple of hands later at the same table, Christopher Dibiase was all in with against an opponent's , and when the board came they were down to 61.
The money has been reached, and there's no better time for a one-hour dinner break than right now. The players are off to find something to eat, and so are we.
Well, it didn't take long for the bubble to burst here at Foxwoods. In fact, it happened on the very first hand of hand-for-hand play when Bob Ricciuti shipped all in for 90,500 from middle position and Eric Rando, who was the Day 1a chip leader, called from the button.
Action was halted until all other tables finished their hands, and then a crowd surround Table 4 to watch the action. "Of course I would be the bubble boy," a disgusted Ricciuti stated upon discovering his was dominated by the of Rando. As has happened to so many men in the past, the ladies proved to be the end of Ricciuti as the board ran out an uninspiring .
The remaining players cheered for their guaranteed $3,051 payday while Ricciuti made a beeline to the exit.
With an all-in pending on another table during hand-for-hand play, an interesting three-way hand developed on another table following a flop.
There was about 30,000 in the middle, and Shaun Suller — who just happened to have bubbled an earlier $365 NLHE event here earlier this week — open-pushed his last 81,500. Paul Snead thought at length about what to do, then finally folded, and the third player folded as well.
Suller then showed his hand — — and the third player showed that he also had . Snead smiled and laughed aloud as he confirmed he'd folded !
"You're welcome!" Snead said to Suller with a grin, as it sounds like from the noise coming from the other table that Suller has managed to avoid bubbling this one.
A disappointed Stephen Hesse was just eliminated from the tournament in 65th place, just two spots shy of the money.
It happened with a board reading and about 70,000 in the pot. Hesse got his stack of 70,000 or so in with the , but it was no good as Chris Renaudette had flopped a set with the . The river was no good for Hesse, and his elimination brought about the money bubble.
Chris Vogel had been battling with a short stack for most of the day, but just now found himself having to commit the last of his chips in a blind-vs.-blind situation versus Matt Sedgeman in which Vogel had but against his opponent's .
The board came , and they're now down to just 65 players — two from the cash.
and was racing against the 
of Paul Snead. Kammerer got it in good, but the 
flop gave Snead an open-ended straight draw to go with his overs. The 
turn paired one of Snead's overs, though it did give Kammerer a flush draw. Unfortunately for him, the 
would blank on the river and he would exit in 61st place for $3,051.
against an opponent's 
, and when the board came 
.
— and the third player showed that he also had 
!
and about 70,000 in the pot. Hesse got his stack of 70,000 or so in with the 
. The 
river was no good for Hesse, and his elimination brought about the money bubble.
against his opponent's 
